The Girl Next Door

The film doesn't relish in it's horrific acts of violence (inspired by a true horrific crime) but by the end I felt exploited because all that is memorable about it is the violence. It evokes similar feelings to that of Straw Dogs but without the master craftsmanship. The cinematography is in fact annoying in parts, the child actors are simply not up to the sheer horror their roles require of them. Blanche Baker is quite terrifying though so this could be a comeback role.

What could have been a good movie was ruined by a clumsily executed series of events and entirely illogical actions by the characters (namely the main boy. It never attempted to explain WHY he made the choices he did, and that was detrimental to the movie). The kids' acting was almost unbearable at times. I just really hated this movie, and I feel bad for the people associated with the real life story, as this shoddy retelling must feel like a complete travesty.

Very disturbing and quite shocking what the child actors must have gone through.

This caught me off guard - I didn't know what this movie was about before I watched it. And while it kind of has a TV-movie feel and isn't what I would consider a good film, it's utterly disturbing. And not only because of the sickness of the events themselves but because this has really happened. What on earth is wrong with people?!

TV-movieish but effective in the sense that it was horribly disturbing. Blanche Baker was good.

I couldn't understand any of the characters in this movie, and all it was is a bunch of kids and a lady verbally and physically abusing a girl filled in by Blanche Baker's horrible monologues which are supposed to be her advice toward her children.

I have no suggestions on how to have made this movie better or how to make the material palatable at all, but whatever this final product is comes across as subpar execution, caricature-acting, and a strange narrative device overall.

Amazing story... poorly made.

"Like some demented cross between a Norman Rockwell painting and an Eli Roth film." - Rob Humanick

Disturbing and thrilling, with a deliciously evil climax and a chilling performance from Blance Baker as the villainous Ruth. The main flaws are 1. that Ruth's evil is portrayed superficially; she is a misandrist, a sadist and irritable, but something human is missing that would connect the dots and save her from the flat ogre archetype. Same goes for her boys. 2. The protagonist is a bit too stupid. 3. The Hollywood ending. And William Atherton - such a great actor, such a brief appearance.

The failure in this film is that it trivializes the Sylvia Likens torture/murder case really badly and almost makes the film like Stand By Me in its ultimate reflective narrative. It's not a challenging watch compared to most horror films and not confrontational enough for what its themes profess to be. I thought it'd be disturbing, but it turned out dull. The tragedy is most in the fact that a true atrocity was its inspiration.

Very good, but oh so disturbing.

This is a real mixed bag. The kids' acting is passable at best, and while Aunt Ruth's can be quite unnerving, her woman-hating monologues of advice feel too written and theatrical. The framing story is useless and clichéd. The directing is standard, with a couple occasional flourishes. The controversial scenes and subject matter achieve their horrific goals, but the sub-par filmmaking and ultimately pointless third act are a let down. It elevates itself above torture porn, but not by a whole lot

Utterly mortifying and soul-destroying. "The Girl Next Door" is probably the film that has affected me the most emotionally (was pretty depressed for a while afterwards). As with "Men Behind the Sun", the horrors on screen are amplified by the fact that they are based on true events, this being based on the case of Sylvia Likens. Most of the violence is implied but the emotional brutality is so severe here that it has more of a genuine impact than any other extreme film out there.

Crap. I really fail to see why people would need to watch recreations of atrocities like this. The rape and torture of a young girl brought to the screen in exquisite detail. Maybe they should make one about the Jews too in the actual Nazi gas chambers and furnaces, slowly choking and melting on IMAX so the people would really appreciate their pain, relate. You don't need to see all evil to condemn it. Not recommended.

I think a lot of people missed the point here. Single handedly the most disturbing film I have ever seen. This because it is based on real events, which aren't that far removed. Is it the best example of filmmaking. No. Is it a reminder of the horrors that we enact upon each other? Yes. I can watch Hostel or any so-called "Torture-Porn" horror film over and over. This? I could never watch again. I put it half way between a film I could watch again and one that I regret ever watching at all.

Films generally fall into the categories of fun, informative, thrilling, thought provoking, scary ... I can find no category for a semi re-creation of an actual event as it neither informs (as it is only "based" on real events"), explains motivation or have the distance from reality required to make it anything other than heartbreakingly sickening. For that reason, in the same way as "Megan is missing", TGND is hard to rate .. its subject matter obscures an objective assessment of the film

If you are looking for the Elisha Cuthbert movie from 2004, do not get this one by accident. This movie...really bothered me. Only watch this if you are prepared for the worst. It's a good film, it's just hard to say that when thinking about the contents of the film. The woman who plays Ruth is terrifying. This movie will have you hating Ruth and her family, including her god damned kids. Few movies really make me "uneasy", and this is one of them. It's heart-wrenching.

A thoroughly disturbing and depressing movie but it is very effective and cannot fault it for succeeding.

based on the Jack Ketchum novel...this movie is so unforgiving in its scenes of cruelty and torture...the movie is a eye opener and definately works...

sick to watch but it's mission to be disturbing and good at that.What kind of sickness is that!

good movie

A hard movie for to watch Thankfully a lot of the stuff is off screen or implied violence 
There’s nothing cute or funny 
I can say about this 
It’s losely based on the real life story of Sylvia Likens
 How much is true or made up I don’t know I have never read her story 
I find it too disturbing for me to handle 
This movie is extremely hard for me too watch 
I call this a “gut punch” 
This movie left me feeling emotionally drained and exhausted

Couldn't get into it. Another stupid coming of age attempt with the random girl getting tortured and abused in the basement of the house next door.

Based on the same crime, I'm not sure whether An American Crime was dulled down or The Girl Next Door was made more brutal. Not a bad movie, unsettling to watch though.

good

If you can escape and run so far how many powers you have in legs. Very good and very sad movie. ;(

this movie actually had quite the impact on me..... as a critic i should give this a lower score ... but im completely entranced by Elisia Cuthbert.

The cinematography felt like a TV movie production and the acting was terrible. I read a lot of reviews for this movie and everyone gets hung up on the story but never talks about how well it was made. The true story the novel was based on was tragic, I found the novel itself a little underwhelming but this movie was pretty terrible mainly due to the horrible acting from all involved as well as the poor direction and bad musical choices.

shocking. I mean ... really shocking!

An American Crime is a superior version (and more accurate version) of this story. This version is almost exploitative of its subject.

A very nasty drama rather than a generic horror film. The conventional addition of a character who stands in for the audience, and for whom the narrative is a reminiscence, is only partly successful, but the film does certainly force a confrontation with the evil that men and women do. Adds some very brutal sexual sadism that is presumably an attempt to follow a certain logic all the way out, but that did not occur in the case on which the movie is based (but which was indeed extremely violent).

An interesting idea for a movie, but it doesn't really offer anything in a way of reflection or analysis. It's shot like a TV movie, the characters are really shallow and cartoonish.

Poorly directed and acted. The casting really lets the story down, especially Blythe Auffarth in the central role of Meg. Beyond her generally bad performance, It's impossible to look at her and not see an adult pretending to be a child. The way she changes her voice and tries to move around in an extra youthful way are so pantomimed and grating, like she's performing a high school theater comedy. The book is vastly superior.

Sylvia Marie Likens, iskence, psikopat aile, psikopat kadin, psikopat cocuklar, yetim, oksuz, kiz kardes, trafik kazasi, cinayet (cok uzucu bir film, psikolojimi bozdu izlerken)

"If you are easily disturbed, you should not watch this movie."

Sick and mind-bending to watch, but by God will it keep you watching to the end.

A movie exposes the horrific torture and murder of a young girl. It suffers greatly from poor writing, amateur acting, and bad storytelling. The film and production quality is also subpar. Many scenes were exciting and hard to believe but pale in comparison to the firsthand accounts. Overall, the story is horrific, but this movie falls far short of being good at telling it. The story wrapper was also poorly conceived. Overall, it failed to be very impactful or particularly engaging.

Brutal and hard to watch, this film doesn't baulk at playing a straight hand in relation to the torture and abuse of an innocent girl. With several scenes which make you look away, and a dark tone and feel to the latter half of the movie, this is a decent attempt to depict the descent into barbarity of a normal family at the instigation of a domineering mother.

Ketchum and McKee are among the few artists in my lifetime to have continued in the true guignol tradition, and you can include the oft-forgotten social realist roots (in addition to the proto-Freudian): THE WOMAN, for all its extremity, is as true as any film to the fabric of a particular kind of abusive family; explored here (w/out McKee) is quite another, distinct yet complementary--initiated by, prolonged through, and sanctified in the misogyny taught by fathers and internalized by mothers.

Really mediocre acting from several of the kids, but I expect some of this is on the director. The ADR is just... off in places? Everything just sort of happens with no hint of character motivation, which means you're left watching an uncomfortable, brutal series of events without investment. I didn't like it, and I can't recommend it.